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Toronto FC announced Wednesday they have acquired defender Ty Harden from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a third round MLS SuperDraft pick in 2011. Per league and team policies financial terms were not available.

“We are excited to have him on board with us,” said head coach Preki. “He’s a good quality, young defender and there are many things I like about him. He showed a lot of promise in his rookie season with the Galaxy and we hope he can add some toughness to our back line.”

Harden, 25, was a second round pick in the 2007 MLS SuperDraft of the Los Angeles Galaxy. In his rookie season he started all 24 games that he played in, amassing 2,086 minutes. He went on to be named the Galaxy’s 2007 Defender of the Year.

In 2008, he stepped away from the game to pursue philanthropic endeavors, moving to Nairobi, Kenya for six weeks to work as a volunteer at Hamomi Children’s Centre. Once there, he also helped set up the school’s first soccer team and helped arranged games with other schools. He left Hamomi in December of 2008 and joined Colorado when the Rapids and Galaxy agreed to a trade on January 13, 2009.

The central defender saw limited action in 2009 with the Rapids appearing in only seven matches mainly due to the strong depth at his position. He appeared in one game with the Rochester Rhino’s of the USL while on loan there for one month in the summer. While with Rochester he played in a U.S. Open Cup match against Columbus and scored a goal. Harden was called back to Colorado during his loan period to play in Colorado’s friendly against Club America.

Harden will fly straight to Bradenton, Florida to join his new teammates at pre-season camp.

Toronto FC announced Thursday they have acquired midfielder Jacob Peterson from the Colorado Rapids in exchange for allocation money. Per league and team policies financial terms were not available.

“This is a player that Preki has been wanting for some time,” said director of soccer Mo Johnston. “We’re looking forward to bringing him into camp and getting him working with the rest of the players.”

Peterson, 23, was the Rapids’ first pick of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, (2nd Round, 21st overall) and made his professional debut playing 21 minutes on April 8, 2006 against the Columbus Crew. After establishing himself into the first team in his first season with the club, he was named the team’s “Rookie of the Year”. In the 2009 MLS season the midfielder appeared in 23 games with Colorado, making 12 starts and adding two goals and two assists. He missed the last month of the regular season due to injury.

A graduate of Indiana University, he won two National Championships with the Hoosiers in 2003 and 2004, scoring a goal in both finals. Peterson was also named a semi-finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy award.

On the International stage, he was a member of the U.S. U-23 National Team, travelling with them to Japan in February of 2007. Peterson has been a part of both the U-17 and U-20 teams and competed at the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championships in the Netherlands.

Peterson will be in Toronto for the start of pre-season on February 1st.

The Colorado Rapids have spent a good portion of the off-season trying to find another forward to complement strikers Conor Casey and Omar Cummings and the Rapids may have finally found their man.

The Rapids struck a deal with Toronto FC, sending an undisclosed 2010 draft pick (believed to be in the first two rounds) to Toronto in exchange for the rights to Guyanese forward Gregory Richardson, sources with knowledge of the deal told SBI on Thursday. Richardson had been on trial with Toronto FC, which held the top Discovery Claim on the him, but TFC ultimately decided to deal the MLS rights to Richardson to the Rapids.

A striker who most recently played for Trinidad & Tobago club Joe Public, Richardson first rose to prominence in MLS circles when he scored an impressive hat-trick against New England in Joe Public’s 4-0 CONCACAF Champions League win at Gillette Stadium last September. His combination of speed and skill had a long list of teams interested in his services, but Toronto ultimately landed his rights and dealt them to the Rapids after choosing not to keep him following an extended trial.

There is no word yet on whether Richardson has agreed to a contract with the Rapids, but the fact that a deal was completed suggests that a deal has either already been reached, or should be reached soon.